Angel of the Morning
by Zippity-Doo-Da
Summary: Snape stumbles across Voldie's jouranl from Hogwarts, inside he finds a picture of a girl. When Voldemort sees him with it, he tell snape an epic story of love, hate, jealousy and revenge. R/R!!! PG-mild cussing. Later chapters will be PG-13 and R.


                                               Angel of the Morning

Disclaimer-I own no Harry Potter characters. I own my characters and my plotline. 

Author's Note- First of all, I would really like some reviews on this story. I'm not being pushy, but I'd really appreciate it. I, personally, love this story. I think it's my finest yet. Yes, I realize it's a bit out of character… but that's the point. And yes, this is Voldemort telling a story, even though it might not sound like it. This story is my baby, be kind. 

Chapter 1-The Amazing Discovery

            "Goddamnit! You'd think I was some sort of errand boy." Severus Snape grumbled. "Go get this Severus, I need that from the cellars." He mocked, imitating the dark lord's squeaky effeminate voice. He shook his head bitterly. *If it weren't for Dumbledore… I've been long gone by now. * 

            He sighed *Now which door was it? * He walked down the darkened hallway, counting door. "Six, six, six…" he muttered to himself over and over. ****

            He came to a wooden door with a crude number six carved into it. "Here we go." Snape opened the door slowly, trying to minimize dust output; you don't open a door for fourteen years the dust tends to build up.

            He flipped the nearly invisible light-switch, the dingy little room filled with light. He squinted at the sudden brightness, trying to adjust his eyes. "Hmm… File 9835." He sighed, "This is impossible." He muttered.

            The room was cluttered with what looked like more than files. Boxes, crates, chests and trunks of all shapes, sizes and ages stood all around the cluttered room. "This is going to take forever." He gazed at the mess, not knowing what he was looking for. "Guess I'll start with the boxes and work my way bigger." ****

            Snape started digging through boxes. About halfway through the fourth one he made a loud sound of disgust. " Someone here is very, very sick." 

            So far he'd found, a box containing the whole of the Babysitters Club series and a quite extensive collection of woman's clothing from like 200 years ago…. The worst part was… it looked new and quite clean. "Yeah… I think I'll put this away." He shoved a pair of silk stocking back into the chest and closed it quick, quite scared. 

            He searched through every boxes, bag, barrel, and chest through the next hour and a half. He had quite a few laughs. For instance, in one of the old chests, he found a sheaf of very bad love letters to and from person's unknown. They all said stuff like this: 

Every time I see you, I turn all mushy. Your hair is as black as the plague and your eyes are really brown in that good tree-stump sort of way. You make me want to be bad. Just call me your slave, mistress. 

            He had laughed so hard at that one that it had brought tears to his eyes. He shook his head. "I've got this one trunk left to search. Almost done." He paused, his brow wrinkling. "I think someone's an idiot. There aren't any files in here. Just junk…. Oh well, might as well search this last one, might get some more laughs." 

            It held nothing interesting, just some dust and old dementor robes and masks, they looked rather moth-eaten. He shrugged and stood up, looking around the now even more shambled-up room. He turned to leave when the glint of dull silver caught his eye.

He turned to look. There was something there in the corner, under some robes. He went to investigate. 

            He uncovered another trunk. It was old, dusty, and extremely beaten up. He ran a thin hand over the top… it came off dirty. He blew some of the dust. The top had the initials "T.M.R." carved into the silver of the lock. ****

            "Hmm…" Snape was very curious. He tried opening it, but the lock had seemed to have rusted shut. He jiggled it. The whole lock snapped and came off in his hand.           * The moisture of the underground hideaway and the rust must have weakened the   metal. *  He thought and shrugged in indifference. 

            He opened the lid and a cloud of dust enveloped him. He fell into a coughing fit, and waved his hand, attempting to rid the air of the offensive material. 

            When it cleared up, he discovered that it was a school trunk. On top were three pairs of very old Hogwarts robes, followed by black socks, a black and green cloak, a pair of dragon-hide gloves and a cauldron. The cauldron was placed on top of a stack of thick spell books. On the very bottom of the trunk, in between a broken sneakoscope and an astronomy chart, was a slim, green leather book.

            Snape pulled it out… it was a journal. On the cover, in silver scrolling, were the words: Thomas Marvolo Riddle. Snape's eyes got really big. He hurriedly shoved everything back into the trunk, but when he went to put the journal back, a piece of yellowed paper fell out. He picked it up, it was a picture. A picture of one of the most beautiful women Snape had ever seen. 

            She was seated on a swing and surrounded by flowers. She had dark hair and pale skin. He couldn't tell what color because the photograph was black and white. She was dressed in a long light colored dress; it looked like it was a wedding dress… an old-fashioned one. 

            He turned the picture over, there was something written there in scripty handwriting. He could barely read it. 

            To My Dearest Thomas; 

                        May our love endure until after life has ceased. 

            He just sort of stared at it. Love? What the…?

            "Why are you sitting here!!!????!!!" An outraged voice hissed from behind him.

Snape snapped out his semi-trance. "Oh… uh…. " He looked up to see none other than Lord Voldemort. "Master… I'm very sorry. I couldn't find the files…" 

            He was cut off by a terse movement from his master. Voldemort was looking at something. The picture… Snape realized.       

Voldemort slowly pulled the photograph from his fingers. "Where… did you find this?" he asked, sounding peeved. 

"I found it…." He motioned toward the trunk. 

Voldemort nodded in recognition. He scrutinized the photo closely. He seemed to have drifted off into memories. 

"Master… are you alright." 

He seemed to snap back into it. He stared at Snape, his snake eyes narrowing. 

"Why are you in here?" 

"You told me six. This is door six." 

            "Sixteen, Severus. Sixteen."

            Snape's face turned red. "Oh… oops." He stood up. "I thought you said six. I apologize."  He bowed his head down. 

            Voldemort sighed… at least Snape thought he sighed. "It's alright." 

Snape stared at him. What was up with him? Why was he being so understanding? Did it have to do with the picture that'd fallen out of the journal? 

"Sir, may I ask you a question?" 

"What?" He asked tersely. 

"Who is she?" he paused, "The girl in the picture." 

Voldemort shook his head. "That's a very long story." 

"Would you mind telling me? I saw what was written on the back." 

Voldemort flipped it over, and nodded. "Yes, I remember the day she gave me this. "He looked at Snape. 

            Snape looked at him expectantly. His eyes clearly asking ~And? ~ 

            Voldemort looked like he was fighting a rough internal battle. "I met her on the school train my very first year at Hogwarts." 

FLASHBACK: 50 years….                 

            A skinny boy of about eleven sat alone in the corner of the train compartment, reading a rather thick book. His brow was wrinkled in concentration. He had black hair that waved around his head, bright blue eyes and pale skin. 

            He didn't look like a very happy person, but inside, he was ecstatic. A few days earlier, he had found out that he was a wizard and that he would leave the orphanage with all it's cruel children and drunken staff, and go off to a school where they would teach him magic. It all fascinated him.  

            He set his book aside and gazed out the window. The landscape rolled past him. All the green pastures and flower-bedecked hills were enchanting. He'd never seen anything so quaint in all his life. London wasn't exactly a pastoral setting.

            He sighed, feeling rather lonely. He really wished for someone to talk to right about now.

            As if the Good Fairy had been listening to his wish, the door to the compartment burst open. Tom's head snapped around. In the doorway, stood five girls. 

            One of the girls stepped forward. She was beautiful. She had long black hair that waved to her waist, big, black-fringed, hazel eyes, and pale skin. She was dressed in blue skirt and a long-sleeves red shirt. Tom had never seen a creature so lovely before. 

"Hello!" she said in a cheery, musical voice. "I'm Eleanor. Eleanor Whitehall. What's you name?" she grinned at him. 

Tom was speechless for a moment. "I… uh… I'm… Tom…"

Eleanor sat across from him. "Hi Tom! Where are you from?" 

"Uh… London." 

"Yech! London's way too dirty for me. I'm from County Meath… that's in Ireland. So's Jeri over there… Oh yeah, and call me Nell." Nell indicated the girl who came and sat next to her. 

She was brunette, and green-eyed. Dressed in black pants, a black tank top and a black over-shirt. She looked like a supine feline, very relaxed and easy-going, with high-standards. 

"Ello." Jeri grinned. "I'm Geraldine Montgomery. As you know, they call me Jeri." 

"Jeri, huh? Nice to meet you." 

The other three girls came in and sat down. Tom scrutinized them. They were all reasonably pretty. He personally thought Nell was the prettiest though. 

The 1st of the three, she thought she'd said her name was Reese, something like that, had shoulder-length white-blonde hair and the strangest pure black eyes. Looking at her was like plunging yourself into a bucket of ice water. Especially since she was wearing a silver t-shirt and white capris with black and silver striped stockings.  But she turned out to be real nice. 

The second took a seat next to Jeri. She was introduced as Maggie. She was rather chubby and pug-faced, but in a cuddly sort of way. She was endowed with the most shocking red ringlets. Tom had never seen hair that color before. They were made even more shocking by an orange shirt and a red skirt. The whole thing clashed horribly. She did have _one _good feature though. She had the most gorgeous turquoise eyes. 

The last girl sat down on the opposite end of the seat as Tom. She seemed really snotty and high-strung. She told Tom in this really nasal, "Nanny" voice. "I'm Annabel and don't call me anything other than Annabel." She had long, straight blonde hair, and baby blue eyes. She had on a pink plaid skirt and a pink tank top with a pink feather-trimmed jacket. She was pretty but her bad personality ruined it. Tom disliked her on the spot. 

The five of them hit it off right away; Annabel just sort of sat there with her nose in the air. They talked about all sorts of things. 

Tom found out that they were all Purebloods, but they didn't really care. He also found out that they had all just met at the train station, except Jeri and Nell, who'd grown up together. 

He told them all about what it was like to live in an orphanage. About the workhouse where he went everyday, and about his parents. They all seemed to feel sorry for him, even though he told them it hadn't been that bad. But it had been much worse….

About halfway through a conversation about what charms and spells they already knew and a wand-comparing session, a witch with a cart loaded full of yummy treats knocked on the door. 

"Yay, lunch!" Nell exclaimed. 

Jeri laughed at her and made a comment about always being hungry. Tom grinned… he envied how good of friends Jeri was with Nell; he wished he had a friend like that. He didn't really have any friends, ever… until now. 

Soon enough, Tom realized what Jeri had meant by "always hungry". Both she, Nell, Sheri and Maggie ate like cows! Tom noted, that Annabel didn't eat anything and watched the other girls with contempt. He found it quite amusing that they were all thinner than she was… with the exception of Maggie. 

After all the food was scarfed down, they settled back into their conversation. Tom looked out the window and sort of dozed off. He was awakened by a loud exchange. 

"How can you say that! Warren Potter is the most stuck-up jerk-off I've ever met!" The person behind the loud voice was Reese, she seemed pretty angry at whatever someone had said. He soon found out whom she was annoyed at. 

"He's a fine boy. He's from a good family! He's charming, sweet, romantic and you can't beat that!" Annabel crossed her arms and stuck her nose even farther into the air, Tom didn't see how it could go any farther, another inch and she'd be looking backwards and upside down…

Nell chose this moment to pop into the argument. "Annabel… Jeri's right. He's selfish, self-centered and manipulative. He's not worth arguing over. Save your breath. Let's talk about something else." 

"Hey Reese, what house do you think you'll be in?" Maggie asked. 

Reese sighed and looked at her. "Uh… If I'm not in Slytherin, I'll be a family disgrace. So Slytherin." 

The four girls, excluding Annabel who was still miffed, predicted what houses they were all going to be in. Tom had no clue what they were talking about. 

"Which do you want to be in?" 

Tom sort of sat there silent. "What are houses?" 

There was a shocked silence before Jeri piped up. "There are four houses at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Gryffindor. Ravenclaw is usually for logical smart people. Hufflepuff for those who are a bit slow but loyal and honorable… like Maggie." She grinned at Maggie's expression. "Slytherin for sly, cunning, usually somewhat demented people. And last and least, Gryffindor for people who are "brave", mostly barbaric jocks with over-inflated egos." She laughed "Like Warren Potter." 

Annabel took the opportunity to glare at her. 

Tom thought for a minute. "Well… probably Ravenclaw or Slytherin." 

The girls nodded. Tom sort of spaced out again. Soon, the sky grew dark and it started to rain, really hard. The girls had just started dozing off when the compartment door burst open. A boy with shaggy blue-black hair, green eyes and glasses stood in the doorway; he was dressed in long black robes. 

"Well, hi there Ellie. Looking good." He said, winking at Nell. 

Eleanor glared at him. "Why don't you leave me alone? You're not wanted here." 

"Oh yes he is!" Annabel stood up, and promptly almost fell over when the train faltered. "Hi Warren…" she batted her eyelashes at him.

*Ah, so this must be Warren Potter. * Tom thought. * Jeri was right; he sure looks

like a jock with an over-inflated ego. *

            Warren looked at Annabel and squinted. "And you are?"

            Annabel merely kept batting those eyelashes. "Annabel O'Leary, we met at the fair a couple of months ago." 

            Warren looked absorbed into deep thought. "Oh… I think I remember you." 

            Tom shook his head. You were pretty dumb when you were insulted to your face and didn't care. 

            Jeri stood up. "Warren, state your business and leave." She glared at him

            "Just here to catch up with my buds. See how everything's going." 

            "Can't you see that these girls obviously aren't your "buds"? I think you should leave." Tom said, getting annoyed. 

            Warren looked at him closely. "You a fag?" 

Nell stood up, looking extremely angry. "That's it Warren. Get the hell out! Now!" 

Warren shook his head. "Naw, I want an answer. Who are you and are you a fag?" 

Tom glared at him. "My name is Tom Riddle and I'm not gay!' he fumed, "You have your answer now get the hell out you pond-scum!" 

Warren pointed a finger at Tom "You're gonna regret crossing me…" He held a hand to Annabel. "You coming Hun?" 

Annabel grinned. "Of course!" 

She took his hand and left. 

Quiet followed in the wake of Warren and Annabel's departure. Next thing Tom knew, Jeri woke him up and told him to get his school robes on, because they were almost there. 

Tom lost track of the girls when they were getting off the train. Tom looked around, slightly worried. *Where have they gotten to? * he thought anxiously. 

"Oh, there you are Tom!" He turned to see Nell and Jeri standing behind him. "C'mon!" Nell reached out her hand. "Mags and Reese are waiting for us by the docks!" 

"Docks?" Tom asked. 

"Yeah! That's how first years get to the castle, by boat." Nell grinned and grabbed his hand to lead him. 

As Tom approached the lake, he saw a bunch of canoe-like boats. He also saw Maggie and Reese flagging them down like mad. 

"There they are! C'mon!" Nell still had a hold of his hand. He had a weird tingly sensation where her skin touched his. She drug him over to the other two girls, Jeri trailing behind. 

"Isn't this exciting?" Maggie exclaimed, her chubby face flushed with anticipation. "I can't wait to see what the castle looks like!!" 

The three girls giggled at her. "You sound like Joan of Arc going off to fight the British." Nell told her. "Anxious to fight off the dirty English invaders who killed your sister, are you?" 

Maggie's face became even more flushed, but this time with embarrassment. "Yep! De'th to all ze dir'y Enlais!" she exclaimed with an over-exaggerated French accent. 

This made them all burst into hysterical laughter, including Maggie, who seemed overly pleased with her little joke. 

All of a sudden a booming voice called to them from behind. 

"First years! First years this way! Two to a boat!" The deep voice belonged, surprisingly enough, to a quite small man with a hunchback. 

The first years filed into the canoe boats, most grumbling about the water in the bottoms. Nell and Jeri to one, Maggie and Reese to another, that left Tom with a pudgy kid who introduced himself as Mervin Schrader. He had a glass eye that really creeped Tom out. 

They pushed off the shore, rowing hard because the water seemed thick and sluggish. About halfway across, the sky became even blacker and a terrible storm blew in.  The hard winds rocked the small boats so violently Tom had to cling on for dear life. Through the ferocious storm, somehow they managed to get to the opposite shore. The castle's looming silhouette emerged through the torrential rain. Tom could vaguely see the tall towers and the turrets. 

He felt the bow of the boat hit the sandy beach, but his eyes were on the foggy expanse of the lawns that lay before him. Tom was snapped out of his trance as he heard Jeri's voice calling to him. 

He looked over and through the wet velvet of his black hair, he saw she, Nell, Maggie and Reese running toward him. Jeri started gushing immediately. 

"Oh my, that was so freaky! I thought I would get flung right into the water!" 

"I know! And that water looked sooo dirty!" Maggie said, enthusiastically. 

"I think I saw a giant creature of some sort swimming around in there!" Nell exclaimed. 

They were interrupted when a teacher hurried them up the lawns to the castle. 

They all stood staring in awe when the finally reached it. 

"It's so… BIG!" Reese said, breathily. 

"No kidding…" Nell agreed. 

They were shoved toward the entrance. The first hall was warm, despite the stone walls, floors and ceilings. Maybe it just seemed so warm because they were all frozen stiff. It was pretty quiet, but they could hear conversation and laughter through a pair of closed wooden doors. 

Tom's curiosity was aroused. Why was everyone else in there and us out here? How many other people were there exactly? It sounded like there were a lot. 

A tall, skinny, middle-aged woman opened a side door. She had a long blonde braid and merry brown eyes. "Come now students. I'm Professor Ross, I teach potions. Please follow me, the sorting will begin shortly." 

The gang filed slowly into the room. It was stone as well. There was a large fireplace against one wall, it was rather large but they were still packed tight as sardines. Through the throng, Tom caught a glimpse of Warren, Annabel was hanging on to his arm like it were a life preserver and she were a shipwreck victim.

When he looked back at Nell, he could see her looking at the exact same thing he'd been staring at. She shook her head and made a small sound of disgust. Before she could comment, Prof. Ross came back and shuffled them into another room. 

*This must be the room where I heard the voices! * He thought. He could see why he'd heard the voices too. It was packed full of people. There were four long tables where all the students were sitting. There were a lot of people at those tables. 

At the head of the room, was another long table. Seated there, were all the professors. In the very middle, sat a round, rosy-cheeked little man with kind eyes and a warm smile. Next to him was a tall man with a long auburn beard and ponytail. ****

The small man stood up on his chair. "Students, professors, and ghosts. Here is your first look at your new fellow students." He grinned at them. 

They were put into alphabetical order, made into a single-file line and hauled to the front of the room where a tattered hat sat on a stool. A wide rip in the brim opened and it started singing. Tom was too absorbed in observing the room to pay much attention to the words, but when it finished they started calling all their names. 

"ABERNATHY, SARA!" A small girl walked up to the hat and put it on. It almost immediately cried, "RAVENCLAW!" 

Tom sighed with relief, so that was how they'd be sorted. 

He watched as "ALFERMAN, BRUNO!" became a Gryffindor. 

Soon enough Prof. Ross called out "CRENSHAW, MARGARET!" Maggie stepped up and placed the hat on her head, the moment it touched, it yelled "HUFFLEPUFF!" Maggie stepped down and took a spot at the end on a yellow be-decked table. All the kids at her table were cheering furiously

He sort of spaced until he heard "JAMES, REESE!" She was made a Slytherin. Reese made her way to the first table. She sat down amidst applause, then grinned and gave him a thumbs up. 

About 15 minutes later, she called out "MONTGOMERY, GERALDINE!" Just second later the hat called out "RAVENCLAW!" Jeri looked extremely pleased with herself. He saw her motion to Nell and make a small space for her. 

The next person he spotted that he knew was, unfortunately, Annabel. Just seconds passed between Prof. Ross yelling "O'LEARY, ANNABEL." And the hat yelling "GRYFFINDOR." He looked back at Nell, who gave him a told-you-so look. Her expression changed from smugness to disgust as "POTTER, WARREN" was called up. The hat quickly sorted him into Gryffindor. 

He saw Annabel cheering and waving him down frantically. A look of indecision passed across his face before he finally sat down by her. She latched herself to his arm. 

Before he knew what was going on, he heard "RIDDLE, THOMAS" called. He made his way over to the stool; he picked up the pointy hat and placed it on his head. Tom heard a tiny voice ringing around in his head.

Hmm… interesting. You seem to be indecisive. About 

_yourself. You are smart and clever. But, you're also_

_cunning and calculating. You could be very great someday. ___

_You know that? You have amazing power stored _

_in your mind. I see much potential. Ravenclaw or_

Slytherin? Hard decision. So I guess it'll have to be… 

**_SLYTHERIN!_**

The hat shouted that last word. He took the hat off and placed it on the stool. The green table was cheering and clapping for him._ He went and sat down by Reese, she grinned at him. He was grateful he had at least one of them with him. There was still a chance that Nell would be placed in Slytherin as well. _

He was bitterly disappointed though. "WHITEHALL, ELEANOR!" was called up and shortly placed into Ravenclaw. Jeri was cheering and waving her over. Nell took the spot next to her. She turned and gave Tom a beautiful smile. He smiled back at her. 

He couldn't tell what it was, but there was something about her that made him want to turn his very life over to her. She was so pretty; her black hair had dried into soft curls that fell all around her small frame. How he would like to touch her hair. It looked like silk. 

He must have spaced off looking at her because he heard Reese's teasing voice cut through his thoughts. 

"Oh! Tommy's got a crush on Nell!" she grinned at him and laughed. 

Tom smiled sheepishly and shrugged. 

"Aw Tom, I was just funnin' ya!" She kept grinning and shook her head. 

He nodded. Food appeared on the table before him. He was amazed, where had it come from? He didn't care. His stomach had just caught up with him. He realized that he was ravenous. He chowed down, stuffing himself full of the good food.

After the feast, he was overcome by the fullness of his belly and the fatigue from the long day, he was very sleepy. He let an older students guide him to the dorms and let him in. he trudged down a flight of stairs and fell onto the bed where he saw his stuff. 

He was fast asleep within minutes, lost in his sweet dreams of the day he'd just experienced. 

Author's Note- Thanks for reading this far! What'd you think? Did you like it? I need feedback! Second chapter should go up reasonably soon. Bye for now!


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